Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make
public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the
war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from
Congressional Republicans who said they hoped to "leverage
the Internet" to find new evidence of the prewar dangers
posed by Saddam Hussein.

But in recent weeks, the site
has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a
danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq's secret
nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The
documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to
building an atom bomb.

Last night, the government shut
down the Web site after The New York Times asked about
complaints from weapons experts and arms-control officials.
A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said
access to the site had been suspended "pending a review to
ensure its content is appropriate for public viewing."

Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, fearing
that the information could help states like Iran develop
nuclear arms, had privately protested last week to the
American ambassador to the agency, according to European
diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
issue's sensitivity. One diplomat said the agency's
technical experts "were shocked" at the public
disclosures.

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